AQR Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 10,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $594,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in UL. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Unilever by 26.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,384,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,145,000 after purchasing an additional 911,443 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Unilever by 19.3% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,132,640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $207,416,000 after purchasing an additional 668,913 shares in the last quarter. Equity Investment Corp boosted its stake in shares of Unilever by 107.1% during the 1st quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 2,910,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $146,091,000 after purchasing an additional 1,505,233 shares in the last quarter. Saratoga Research & Investment Management boosted its stake in shares of Unilever by 19.0% during the 1st quarter. Saratoga Research & Investment Management now owns 2,744,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,766,000 after purchasing an additional 437,621 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp lifted its position in Unilever by 1,866.0% during the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,135,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,451,000 after acquiring an additional 2,027,221 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Unilever from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $47.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group raised shares of Unilever to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Unilever in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price target for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.75.

Unilever Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of UL stock opened at $63.09 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $63.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.42. Unilever PLC has a 52 week low of $46.16 and a 52 week high of $65.87.

Unilever Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.4773 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This is a positive change from Unilever’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $1.91 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%.

About Unilever

Unilever PLC operates as a fast-moving consumer goods company in the Asia Pacific, Africa, the Americas, and Europe. It operates through five segments: Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Home Care, Nutrition, and Ice Cream. The Beauty & Wellbeing segment engages in the sale of hair care products, such as shampoo, conditioner, and styling; skin care products including face, hand, and body moisturizer; and prestige beauty and health & wellbeing products consist of the vitamins, minerals, and supplements.